CHICAGO, September 29, 2017- Cozen O’Connor is proud to announce that six of the firm’s lawyers have been recognized as “Lawyers of the Year” in their respective practices by Best Lawyers in America, one of the oldest and most highly regarded peer review publications in the legal profession. This award is conferred by Best Lawyers. A description of the selection methodology can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

• Stephen A. Cozen – Insurance (Philadelphia) 
• James A. Gale – Patent Law (Miami)
• Thomas S. Giotto – Employment Law – Management (Pittsburgh)
• J. Bruce Maffeo – Criminal Defense: General Practice (New York City)
• Jason M. Shargel – Mergers and Acquisitions Law (Philadelphia)
• Joseph E. Tilson – Litigation – Labor and Employment Law (Chicago) 

To earn this distinction, these six lawyers received the highest annual ratings from peer attorneys in their respective practices nationwide – for excellence in their legal abilities, professionalism and integrity. They will be featured in various regional and national publications.

In addition, 100 Cozen O’Connor lawyers, including the six “Lawyers of the Year,” have been selected as Best Lawyers and will be included in the 2018 edition of the Best Lawyers in America.

The six “Lawyers of the Year” include:

Stephen Cozen is the founder and chairman of Cozen O'Connor. Under his leadership, the firm has grown from just four attorneys in 1970 to more than 825 attorneys. An accomplished litigator and counselor, Cozen is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and Litigation Counsel of America. He is also well-recognized as a consummate strategist, an appellate advocate, and is frequently called upon for specialized appellate advice, counsel, and oral advocacy before both state and federal appellate courts. Cozen is a nationally recognized lecturer and author on a wide variety of legal and litigation issues, and judicial opinions frequently cite his articles and texts as authoritative references.

James Gale is a registered patent attorney who focuses on matters particular to intellectual property counseling and litigation. This is the second time that Gale has been recognized as a Patent Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Miami.  He has represented clients in cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, unfair competition, covenants not to compete, theft of trade secrets and internet disputes and has appeared in over 260 federal cases in more than 48 federal district courts, as well as handled hundreds of injunctions in over 35 different states around the nation.

Thomas Giotto helped launch a new, full-service Pittsburgh office when he joined Cozen O’Connor earlier this year as co-chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment practice. He has been instrumental in rapidly growing the Pittsburgh office and in helping to expand the firm’s national L & E practice. This is the third time Giotto has been named a Pittsburgh “Lawyer of the Year.” He concentrates his practice on representing management in many aspects of labor, employment, and employment-related litigation. Giotto’s traditional labor practice includes representing employers during union organizing campaigns, collective bargaining, and grievance arbitrations. He has represented employers in litigation involving race, sex, sexual harassment, age and disability discrimination, and against claims alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, COBRA, and wrongful discharge and related common law claims

J. Bruce Maffeo has practiced criminal law for more than 35 years and represents clients in a wide variety of federal and state criminal matters. During that time, he has tried virtually every type of criminal case, ranging from securities fraud to murder. As a result of his professional accomplishments, Bruce was inducted in 2009 as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and currently serves as chair of its Downstate New York Committee. Bruce also has represented and conducted internal investigations for various companies and labor unions. Since 2006, he has served as the Ethical Practices Officer for AFSCME District Council 37, New York City’s largest municipal union, where he is responsible for investigating allegations of corruption among that union’s approximately 120,000 members.

Jason Shargel has more than 35 years of experience in the private practice of corporate and securities law. Having begun his career in the SEC's Enforcement Division, Jason's practice includes mergers and acquisitions, as well as the representation of issuers and funds in venture capital, growth capital, and other private equity financings. He has also represented issuers in a wide variety of public and private offerings of debt and equity securities. This is the second time Shargel has been recognized by Best Lawyers as the Mergers and Acquisitions: Lawyer of the Year” in Philadelphia. He has also been recognized as one of the top 10 Corporate/M&A: Securities lawyers in Pennsylvania by Chambers USA for each year from 2007 through 2017.

Joseph Tilson is co-chair of the firm’s Labor & Employment practice. In this role, he has been instrumental in the rapid growth of the firm’s national L&E practice. This is the fourth time that Tilson has been named by Best Lawyers as a “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago. His practice entails representing employers in large-scale employment litigation and labor arbitrations. In the past 35 years, Tilson has tried more than 150 jury and non-jury cases before a full range of courts, administrative agencies, and labor arbitrators. He has been recognized each year since 2010 as one of the “Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Lawyers” by Human Resource Executive/LawDragon, has consistently achieved a Tier 1 L&E Ranking from Chambers USA and is a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. In addition, Tilson was recently elected chair-elect of the American Bar Association’s Section on Labor and Employment Law and will become chair of the Section in 2018-19. 

About Cozen O’Connor

Established in 1970 and ranked among the top 100 law firms in America, Cozen O’Connor has more than 825 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor services its clients’ needs through 26 offices across two continents.